Battle CD 51: Operation X
by IcecreamSyndrome
Summary: What does it mean to be human? While testing their latest product, a team of Silph Co. workers end up discovering artificial intelligence. What happens when the lines between what's real and what isn't blurr?
1. Chapter 1: Artificial Intelligence

Battle CD 51: Operation X

Authors Notes: Well, here's the first chapter of my five chapter short story. I plan on posting one chapter a day over the following week, maybe two chapters on day four, so look forward to a fast paced fanfic! :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon. If I did, Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness would have gotten a sequel on the Wii.

Chapter 1: Artificial Intelligence

The Silph Co. worker stared at the computer screen in anticipation, a smile on his face. Their Battle CD system had become very popular, even going so far as to be shipped to the far off Orre Region. Fifty CDs for Trainers to enjoy, the most popular of which being Battle CD 46: Operation Zero, where the opponent used only a single Pokémon, the legendary Mew. Still, the fans were not satisfied, demanding stronger, more intelligent opponents. The Battle CDs each contained a simple program; nothing more, nothing less, and the Sim Trainers followed a set of predictable, pre-calculated actions. Once figured out, it was child's play to exploit. No, today's Trainers wanted something more, much more.

Thus, the solution was simple: new, better Battle CDs must be created. The Silph Co. worker watched as the computer finished booting up, then pulled out the latest Battle CD prototype, CD 51: Operation X. After all, if Operation Zero was so popular, why not take it one step farther? Sliding the disk into the slot, he turned to the computer monitor, where his colleagues battle with the Sim Trainer was about to begin. He watched as the woman appeared in a burst of light on the screen, followed by the digitized opponent, a teenage male dressed all in red, with pale purple hair. Yes, they'd use the Cooltrainer model for this one; their artificial intelligence was superior to that of other Trainer programs. The area around the two pixilated as the location program was uploaded.

"Hey, funny coincidence huh?" the lavender haired boy laughed. "Us both having a Mew, I mean."

The Silph Co. worker frowned. He hadn't programmed it to say that. The woman was equally puzzled but shook it off and tossed the Pokeball that appeared in her hand, releasing the pink cat-like Pokémon.

The boy shrugged. "Not much of a talker, huh? Ok, it's cool, we can talk after the battle! I can't wait to see how this one'll turn out!" Tossing the Pokeball that magically materialized in his hand, a second Mew was sent out and began moving in perfect unison with its opponent, following the pre-set movement pattern programmed for it, then continuing it in an endless loop.

The woman eyed the Sim Trainer, who didn't even have a name yet, suspiciously. He couldn't _possibly_ be making conversation. Shaking off the uneasiness that was currently welling up in her stomach, she quickly instructed her Mew to use Shadowball.

The artificial Pokémon, of course, obeyed, and the attack hit the opponent head on, taking a large portion of health from its HP bar. The Cooltrainer watched the Mew shrug off the attack with what appeared to be concern, just like the Sim Trainers were supposed to do, then promptly turned his attention to the Pokémon's HP bar.

_Wait a minute, _she realized, a lump forming in her throat, _they aren't supposed to notice the HP bars! _Technically, they weren't supposed to _notice _anything. They were just computer programs, only capable of following a set series of actions, no matter how good the AI was.

"What's going on Reece?" the Silph Co. worker asked the woman through their communication link. "Why isn't he attacking you?"

"I-I don't know," she sputtered, eyes on the Sim Trainer who was now carefully approaching the Mew. _They aren't supposed to move._ He eyed the Pokémon with what looked like bewilderment, then slowly reached out and touched it. The Mew continued its movement pattern, unhindered by his touch, and his eyes widened.

"I-it's not real…" he whispered, voice shaky. "W-what's going on? Where am I?" He then collapsed onto his knees, a look of terror and confusion on his face, and the battle froze. The two Mews stopped in their tracks, and the battle theme faded away. But the Sim Trainer remained unaffected, staring at Reece with eyes full of human emotion. "What's going on? Why won't you tell me?"

He sat there looking like no more than a frightened child, awaiting Reece's answer. Against her better judgment as a scientist, she went to him and put her arms comfortingly around him, like a mother soothing her children. As he looked up at her, she saw something that shouldn't have been there, couldn't possibly be there, and yet was all the same: tears. Real, human tears were now flowing down his cheeks as he let out what sounded like a sob. Without realizing it, Reece reached up and wiped his tears away, and he returned her sympathy with a half-hearted smile.

"You're in a battle simulation," she explained softly, slowly loosening her hold on him. "It allows Trainers to battle virtual representations of Pokémon in a controlled scenario."

"Virtual? So none of the Pokémon are real?"

She nodded. "Simulations consist of Sim Pokémon commanded by…" she hesitated, dreading what she was about to say, "…by a Sim Trainer."

He looked crushed, but nevertheless looked up at Reece as if for comfort. "So…I'm not…real."

In that instant, a thousand things to tell him flashed through her mind, but in the end, she told him the only thing she could: the truth. "No, you're not."

The arena faded away and the Battle Simulation ended, causing Reece to reappear in the real world. Her colleague ejected the Battle CD and stared at it for a long while, eyes wide with shock. Finally a smile broke out on his face. They had created true artificial intelligence. True artificial _human _intelligence.

Over the next couple days, work began in order to extract the Cooltrainer program from Battle CD 51, and to store it on a more specialized, glitch-proof, disk. The process was eventually successful, and a group of excited scientists gathered to view the first test run of Disk X, named for the original CD prototype. As the disk was inserted into the computer's hard drive all were silent, until what appeared to be a teenage boy appeared on the screen, looking confused. Immediately the questions began.

"Who are you?"

"Where did you come from?"

"Do you know what you are?"

"Do you know where you are now?"

"How old are you?"

"Do you consider yourself human?"

"What is your name?"

"I don't know!" he moaned, backing up and apparently hitting some sort of invisible wall. Looking out at the crowd of scientists who stared at him like he was some sort of circus freak, he finally managed a response. "I've been told that my name is X."


	2. Chapter 2: What Am I?

Chapter 2: What Am I?

Reece sat in front of a large computer screen, waiting for the program to boot up, and smiled as the image of a teenage boy with short purple hair appeared on screen. "Hello, X," she greeted cheerily. "How are you today?"

The lavender haired boy shrugged. "Fine I guess." He turned to her with a look that could have been sadness. "What do they want to know today Reece? Whether or not I know what "happy" is?"

Reece sighed. They had been running tests on X for months now and still couldn't figure out why he was capable of such things as intelligent conversation. During which time, X had become less and less friendly and responsive, although he still seemed to get along well with her, which was why she was given the assignment in the first place. "Just a few questions and then you can be done, ok?"

X rolled his eyes. "And then what? Go to sleep until they want to question me some more?" Sighing, he got as close to her as the computer screen would let him. "I swear Reece, if it weren't for you I'd have gone nuts a long time ago!" he laughed, finally managing a smile.

Looking her in the eye, he placed his hand on the computer screen and she did the same, their hands touching if it weren't for the barrier that was reality. Reece smiled back as if to assure him that things would get better, but deep down she knew they wouldn't. There was sadness in his eyes as he smiled at her. Clearly he knew that he would always be trapped in their cyber prison, merely a computer program, nothing more. It was times like this that she forgot that he wasn't technically alive. Yet still, he seemed so real…

Snapping out of her trance, she remembered why she had come in the first place. "Nine times nine is?"

"Eighty-one," he replied with obvious disinterest. "I'm a computer program, remember Reece? I can do math."

Reece laughed. She'd told them that he understood math, and such a basic math problem would only bore him. Skipping a few other equally simple questions, she finally came to the real questions her colleagues wanted to know the answer to. "What is pain?"

His bored expression immediately turned to one of confusion. "Pain?"

"Yes," she repeated, attempting to slip back into her role as a scientist. "Pain. What is it?"

"Pain…well…pain is a feeling of physical discomfort," he replied at last.

Reece shook her head. She had a feeling this would happen. "No, X. I don't want a dictionary definition, I want to know what pain _is_."

He looked even more confused now. "Well…I don't really know. I've never felt pain before." Staring down at his feet and looking rather ashamed, he finally added, "I know _how_ it happens, and _why_ it happens, but I can't explain what it _is_. I'm sorry Reece."

"Its fine X," she assured him without even thinking about it. "Let's just move on to the next question, ok?" He looked disappointed, but slowly nodded. "Alright. What is friendship?"

He brightened at the sound of this question. "I know the answer! It's what you and me have, right?" Reece let out a small gasp of surprise and X immediately looked apologetic. "I'm sorry…I just thought…I mean, you're the only one who talks to me like I'm a person, not a program…"

"It's…it's all right," she sputtered, hoping she wasn't making him feel any worse. "I just didn't know you felt that way, that's all."

He turned to her with a smile, looking happier than he had in days. "I do Reece."

The next day Reece arrived late to work and had to rush into the lab, nearly spilling her coffee. Setting the newspaper down on the table and sliding the disk into the computer hardrive, she plopped into her chair with a groan, and waited for the disk to load.

"Running late Reece?" X chuckled as he appeared on the screen, eyes shining in a way they hadn't the day before.

"X! I, well-wait, how did you know that?" she demanded, pushing her glasses up further on her face and sitting bolt upright in her chair.

X shrugged, looking very pleased with himself. "Oh, come on Reece! It wasn't that difficult to figure out! One, you usually finish your coffee before coming in here, two, you brought the morning newspaper, and three, your lab coat is inside out."

"Oh!" Reece blushed as she quickly took off her lab coat and turned it inside right. X merely began to laugh at her embarrassment until it looked like he couldn't breathe, something that still amazed her since, technically, he didn't have to. Truly, his possession of a sense of humor, or any emotion for that matter, was remarkable in itself. "Thank you X," she giggled, pushing her long blond hair out of her face.

"No problem!" he replied with a smile. Slowly his gaze wandered to the newspaper on the table. "Hey Reece? Could you hold that up for me?"

"What, this?" she asked with a frown, picking up the newspaper.

He nodded. "Yeah. Could you turn it to the screen? Just a little?"

Reece's mouth dropped open. "You can _see_ this?"

"Of course I can," he chuckled. "It's a newspaper. _The Saffron Times_ if I'm not mistaken…" he tilted his head and Reece slowly turned the newspaper towards him. "Yep, _The Saffron Times_, today's issue. Looks like the demand for new Silph Co. products is at an all-time high."

"Yes," Reece sighed wearily. "They work us so hard, and we just haven't been able to come up with anything lately. I sure could use a break!"

X nodded, a big smile on his face. "Me too. Everyday its questions, questions, questions! Aren't I entitled to a little fun once and a while?" he sighed and his expression saddened. "No, I suppose not. I'm just a computer program after all." He turned to Reece, looking very sad. "That's what I'm for, right Reece? I'm the next big product from the great Silph Co."

"You're more than that!" Reece suddenly shouted, much to X's surprise as well as her own.

He raised an eyebrow. "What am I then Reece?"

"I…I…don't know," she mumbled quietly, noticing the disappointed expression on his face. "But," she added, in hope of cheering him up, "maybe if we just…talk for a while, no questions, no pressure, we can figure it out."

"I'd like that," X replied with a smile.

Authors Notes: Well, that's chapter two, hope everyone enjoyed it! :) Also, if X's grammar seems a little incorrect in places, it's supposed to. He was only just created not long ago, and is currently more like a little kid than anything, despite what his appearance would suggest. Also, in case nobody's caught it yet, X's appearance is based off of the male cooltrainers of Firered and Leafgreen.


	3. Chapter 3: Malfunction

Chapter 3: Malfunction

Over the next several months, Reece spent her time just talking with X rather than asking him questions, unbeknownst to her colleagues. More than once she declined eating lunch or working on some new product with them due to having "a big breakthrough with X". The truth was, she simply enjoyed his company, unlike the company of many of her rather stuffy fellow Silph workers.

On one particular evening working late, she and X were in the middle of a very interesting conversation involving Pokémon.

"Why make these Battle CDs?" he asked with a frown. "Trainers want _real_ Pokémon, not computer imitations. Sure, they'll find it entertaining for a while, but eventually the novelty of it will where off and they'll be off training their own Pokémon!"

"So, you're saying the Battle CDs are just a fad?" Reece asked in shock.

X nodded. "It's just a game to them. A couple years from now, nobody's gonna care about it anymore. It'll be forgotten, abandoned for the next big thing. What you need is a product people will remember forever."

Reece looked at X in astonishment. He seemed so wise, yet he himself was a product of Silph Co. "What kind of product?" she asked quietly.

X was silent for a moment before a smile slowly crept its way across his face. "Something Trainers will like."

Reece was puzzled. "But Trainers like the Battle CDs!" she insisted in exasperation, throwing her arms in the air. "Sales have increased thirty-five percent since we started exporting to-"

"Always about the money, isn't it?" X growled, crossing his arms in frustration. "Isn't it enough to make one good product, one that makes everybody happy?" He sighed and placed his hand on the computer screen, smiling as her hand reached out to his. "Money is just paper, no more significant than I am. If something is _truly _valuable it withstands the test of time, like the Pokémon themselves."

Reece's breath caught in her chest. She was sure of it now. This so-called computer program had real thoughts, feelings, and emotions, maybe even a soul. She reached out as if to touch him, to bring him to her world, only to be met with the barrier that was the computer screen.

"Reece," X sighed, pulling his hand away, "you know I can't come into your world. I'm just a computer program after all, just a bunch of zeros and ones…"

"So is Porygon, but that doesn't mean it isn't a real Pokémon!" she insisted defiantly. "We could alter your program to move freely in our world! I know it would work!"

X shook his head, almost laughingly. "A Porygon is a Pokémon, and a very simplistic one at that. I'm not even remotely similar. Come on, Reece! An artificial Pokémon is one thing, but an artificial human? Who would even recognize me as anything more than data?"

"I would," she whispered quietly, yet firmly.

The lavender haired boys eyes widened in shock. "You would?"

Reece nodded. "Of course I would! You're my friend!"

X's eyes seemed to glow with a light all their own, a happiness he had never felt before filling up his entire being. "So, that's what I am. Hmm…in that case, I think I should like a name. A real name, no more of this "X" nonsense." He turned to Reece almost pleadingly, like a child about to ask their mother for something they know she wouldn't buy them. "Please name me Reece!"

The woman stared at him in shock before a motherly smile found its way to her lips. Yes, she would give him the name that she had one day intended to give to her own child. "Alright, Mathew."

Matt's eyes glowed blue before he closed them, a look of complete inner peace on his face. "Thank you, Mother."

Reece was surprised at first, but then realized that it was true. She had been their when he was created, had held him close and comforted him like a child, had watched him grow and change before her eyes, maybe not physically, but mentally and spiritually. Now he had wisdom far beyond what his physical appearance would suggest. He had grown up. And in that moment, as her heart filled with maternal pride, she realized that she loved him like her own child.

The door burst open, revealing a very angry looking group of Silph Co. workers. One of them, the man who claimed to be the one to discover Matt's sentience, rushed forward and proceeded to grab Reece roughly by the arm.

"We trusted you Reece!" he growled, ignoring her cries of protest. "You were supposed to research him, not get attached!"

"He's not some laboratory specimen!" she shouted, slapping the man's hand away. "He has thoughts and feelings!"

"He's a computer simulation! A program! That's all he ever was you foolish girl!" Grabbing her tightly by the wrist he held her there, as if to knock some sense into her. "He isn't real Reece," he said more gently, looking her square in the eye. Walking over to the computer, he reached to eject the disk.

"No, don't!" she cried, eyes wide with panic. "If you eject the disk without saving his program, he could lose all memory of the past several months! He'll forget everything!"

"Good," the man chuckled. "It sounds like that's just what you need. You're treating it like its human, so a complete reset should fix the problem, wiping out whatever crazy ideas you've corrupted it with!"

"NO!"

The group of scientists turned to face the computer screen, jaws dropping, eyes popping out of their skulls at what they saw. A figure was floating on screen, human in appearance, although at times the image seemed to glitch. It locked its icy blue eyes on the spectators before the top half of it slowly began to float up out of the computer screen, the midsection stretching like rubber as the gap between the upper and lower body increased. The arms lengthened like taffy as it reached out towards one figure in particular.

"Mother…"

In panic and fear the man ejected the disk and the figure stopped in its tracks and let out a human wail, which quickly became a glitchy computerized screech. The top half of it quickly retracted into the computer before the screen turned purple, then black.

"Wh-what did you do to it Reece?" he asked shakily.

"Nothing Walter," she whispered, body trembling.

Walter turned to his colleague, anger clearly visible on his face. "You had to have done _something_, otherwise it wouldn't have glitched like that! Think!"

Reece thought about it. X had seemed perfectly normal that day… Suddenly her eyes widened. Could it have been when she named him? He did seem a little…off after she did so, calling her "Mother" and whatnot, but nothing like that.

_"If you eject the disk without saving his program, he could lose all memory of the past several months! He'll forget everything!"_

_"Good! It sounds like that's just what you need. You're treating it like its human, so a complete reset should fix the problem, wiping out whatever crazy ideas you've corrupted it with!" _

_"NO!" _

That's right, X had cried out in protest, but why? Did he really understand what Walter had been talking about? There was no doubt in her mind that he did, but somehow, Reece knew it was more than that.

"Programs malfunction," she said with a shrug. "It happens."

"Of course," he said with a smile, thankful that Reece was acting like her old, logical self again. He turned to the disk in his hand and smiled. "Don't worry Reece, we'll get the disk fixed good as new in no time!"

Patting her on the shoulder, Walter and the other scientists left Reece alone, feeling as if she had lost everything.

Authors notes: Yes, Walter is the previously unnamed scientist from chapter 1 who was with Reece at the time of X's discovery. Just thought I'd clear that up in case there was any confusion.


	4. Chapter 4: Control, Alt, Delete

Chapter 4: Control, Alt, Delete

Walter sat with his fellow scientists, all gathered around a rather large computer screen. It had taken four weeks of hard work, but they'd done it! Finally, Disk X should be fully repaired and good as new! Carefully sliding the disk into the computer, the group waited eagerly until the familiar image of a teenage boy appeared on the screen. He looked at them blankly, his face devoid of any emotion.

Slowly, one of the scientists approached the screen to ask the first question. "Where did you come from?"

"I come from Disk X, however my program was originally extracted from the prototype Battle CD, CD 51: Operation X, hence where Disk X gets its name," the boy replied in a flat monotone.

Walter frowned. The answer was correct, but it seemed to be…lacking something somehow. He looked at the program called X. Had its eyes always been so dull, gray, and lifeless? Something was missing…

Another scientist approached and eagerly relayed her question. "Do you know what you are?"

"Yes. I am a computer program created by Silph Co., originally designed as a Sim Trainer for the Battle CD system. Type: Cooltrainer. Gender: Male. The Cooltrainer type was purposefully selected due to the higher level of artificial intelligence, and I exceeded all expectations."

By now Walter had a deep frown on his face. This wasn't artificial intelligence. This was the computer telling them precisely calculated, logical answers. Running out of the room, he rushed to find Reece. X would talk to her! He just knew it!

Reece sat in her office, going over her last conversation with X in her head over and over again. What had caused him to glitch like that? With a sigh, she let her head drop onto the table in frustration.

"Reece! You have to come quick! It's about X, it-"

"I told you already, I don't want to be there when you start him up again," she muttered, not even looking up at Walter. _It brings back too painful memories…_

"I know Reece, but I think there's something wrong with it!"

Turning to face the man with a rather emotionless expression, she simply muttered, "That's what you're working to fix now, isn't it?" Getting up and turning to leave, the scientist followed after her, a desperate look on his face.

"That's not what I mean!" Pausing, he looked her meaningfully in the eye. "I mean there's something _wrong_ with it. Like, it's not sentient anymore."

Reece's eyes widened with concern. Painful though it would be to see him again, the thought that the old X was gone forever was something she couldn't bear. "Take me to him."

Back at the computer lab, even the other scientists were beginning to notice X's newfound lack of expression.

"That thing isn't sentient!"

"Not even close!"

"It's just a computer program after all! I knew it!"

"My car has more personality than that thing!"

Mocking laughter filled the room and X just stood there, as if unaware of their comments. Perhaps he was. As Reece entered the room, however, he turned his head towards her and his eyes seemed to lose some of their dullness.

Walking up to the computer screen, she asked him the one question she knew he'd understand. "What is friendship?"

The other scientists laughed at the very idea that a computer program would understand such an abstract concept, but as they watched, X's eyes turned from their previous shade of gray to a bright blue. "It's…what we have…right, Reece?" he asked slowly, uncertainly, never taking his eyes off her.

Reece smiled. "That's right X."

His eyes widened and began to glow a bright blue. "My-My-My na-names not-names not XXXXXXXXXXX, its-its-its-" Then there was a high pitched buzzing sound as the screen glitched and the image of a glitchy purple box appeared on the screen, all the while, the poor glitch creature kept repeating "its" in an endless cycle.

After the incident, the disk was abandoned, having been deemed to be corrupted beyond repair. Reece, however, decided to boot up the disk one last time…

Her heart sank as the image of a purple glitch box greeted her. She couldn't take it anymore! Her closest friend! Gone! She broke down and cried, tears hitting the keyboard.

"R-R-Reece? Why-Why-Why are you crying?"

Reece looked up at the computer screen, where the glitch box was now expanding, as if it were moving closer to the screen.

"X?" she asked softly, wiping tears from her eyes.

"My-my-my names not X, its-its-its Mathew, but yes Reece, it's me," the voice replied, the glitch box beginning to pulsate, as if trying to morph into something else.

"What went wrong?" she sobbed, not really expecting an answer.

"I can't-I can't ta-take it Reece. I'm-I'm unsta-unstable. I'm ssssorry."

"Don't be," she whispered, reaching her hand out and touching the computer screen. "It's not your fault."

"Reece? Ple-Please could y-you do me a favor?" he asked, the glitch box beginning to reshape…

"Of course Matt! Anything!" She watched as the glitch box twisted and reshaped into a familiar image.

"Please hit the-the-the delete button," he whispered, his speech still glitched, but completely understandable.

"What?" she asked, eyes wide with shock. "No, that'll kill you!"

"Its-Its ok Reece. Please hit-hit the delete button. I'm cor-cor-corupted anyway," he sighed, placing his hand on the screen. "Or may-maybe I just can't exist as-exist as data," he added with a smile.

Reece placed her hand on the screen on top of his, and smiled, a smile full of sadness and tears, but also of hope. Then, with her free hand, she hit the delete key.

Authors notes: Well, for all you old school glitch fans out there, yes, I made reference to the glitch Pokémon X-x in this chapter, which resembles a purple box. For anyone who hasn't heard of it, I suggest you check out its article on Bulbapedia. There are also some pretty good videos of it on Youtube. :)


	5. Chapter 5: The Future Looks Bright

Chapter 5: The Future Looks Bright

Several years passed since the deletion of Disk X. True to X's prediction, the Battle CDs soon became a thing of the past, long forgotten, except maybe as a mini game in Relgeum Tower in Orre, along with Battle Bingo. No new Battle CDs were made.

Reece finally understood why X had become corrupted, though she herself didn't believe he truly had been. From the moment he'd come into the world, he'd been unstable. They should have realized it much earlier, when his confusion caused the Battle Simulation to freeze. X had had a true, human soul, and for such a thing to be contained on a disk was impossible.

Silph Co. became famous beyond their wildest dreams. One product in particular made them overnight celebrities: the Masterball, a Pokeball that could catch any Pokémon without fail.

When asked how she came up with such a brilliant idea, Reece just smiled and said, "Oh, it's just something a friend and I talked about a long time ago…"

The M-ball, as it was originally called, couldn't be bought or sold in any stores. Instead, it was shipped off to regional professors of every known region to be given to those deserving of it. This was exactly how Reece wanted it. The M-ball was something meant to be enjoyed by worthy Trainers forevermore.

The invention was eventually renamed the Masterball, after several people wondered what the "M" stood for, and Reece insisted that she'd never tell. "This secret stays between me and my friend from the past," she always insisted with a dreamy smile.

Reece and Walter were eventually married, after Walter finally managed to admit to his colleague that he had certain hidden feelings for her. The two of them had one child, a son, who had a bit of a stuttering problem, but was getting better all the time.

As the sun beat down on the park, Reece smiled, knowing the future was going to be wonderful. "Come, Mathew," she said to her purple haired six-year-old, "were going home now to see Daddy!"

"Yes, Mom-Mom-Mommy!" the boy replied happily, following after his mother towards Saffron City.

Authors notes: Short chapter, I know, but this was just meant to clear up a few things and say what needed to be said, an epilogue of sorts. :) Also, I know that this may not be my best fanfic, but I'm happy with the way it turned out and I had fun writing it. :) It's also the first multichapter fic I finished, so yay! ^_^


End file.
